JPH02121886A - Image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a matte image having no gloss by passing a transferred image between a pair of heating rollers to reheat and melt the same and pressing the molten image to sufficiently infiltrate the same into a recording medium. CONSTITUTION:Paper P discharged after the finish of printing is inserted in a heating roller pair 53 while the image Pc thereof is on a heating side. The image Pc is reheated by a heating roller 59 to pass through the nip of both rollers 58, 59 while pressed by both rollers. At this time, a colorant (ink) is melted to penetrate into the paper P and the image Pc loses gloss to become matte. The paper 15 treated into a silk like state by the rough surface of a rough surface roller body 63 and a copy having a matte image Pc with no gloss and easy to look at is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an improvement in an image forming method suitable for thermal transfer copying machines, thermal transfer printers, and the like.

(Prior Art) Recently, thermal transfer type copying machines and printers have been put into practical use. The general image forming method used for this purpose is, for example, to wrap a recording medium such as paper around a supporting and transporting means such as a rotating platen drum, and to apply a plurality of colors of transfer material such as a thermal transfer ribbon onto the recording medium. A desired color image is formed by melting and transferring an agent, such as ink, through a thermal recording head such as a thermal head (TPH). Then, the paper on which the image was formed in this way was simply transferred and then discharged as is. Therefore, all the images were glossy.

However, some users may desire images without gloss, and this has the disadvantage of not being able to meet this demand.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, the conventional image forming method using thermal transfer
There was a problem in that the images obtained were always glossy, and images without gloss could not be obtained.

The present invention was made to solve these disadvantages, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method capable of producing a matte image without gloss even though it is a thermal transfer method.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes an image forming step in which an image is formed by melting and transferring a colorant on a transfer material onto a recording medium using a thermal recording head;
This image forming method is characterized by comprising a heating step in which the recording medium subjected to the melt-transfer is heated through a pair of heating rollers to melt and infiltrate the colorant.

(Function) The present invention is an image forming method in which the transferred image is reheated and melted through a pair of heating rollers, and is pressed to sufficiently soak into the recording medium to eliminate gloss.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be explained below by way of an example with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing the structure of a thermal transfer copying machine (hereinafter referred to as the present copying machine) that implements the image forming method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 similarly shows the overall structure of the present copying machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram mainly showing the control system.

First, the overall structure and operation of the present copying machine will be briefly explained, and finally, the structure and operation of the paper ejection roller, which will be described later, as well as the manner in which the method of the present invention is carried out will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, this copying machine includes an overall control section 1, a scanner section 2, a color conversion section 3, a memory section 4, and a printer section 5. The details will be described later, but the green (G), yellow (Y), cyan (C)
) The color conversion unit 3 converts each color component into magenta (M), yellow (Y), and cyan (C) of the printing medium.
), and the color-converted values are stored in the memory section 4 for each color together with the position information on the document. The printer unit 5 prints magenta (M), yellow (Y), and cyan (C) based on the values read from the memory unit 4.
, black (B) [black is magenta, yellow and cyan AND]
Output] A printing medium, such as a thermal transfer ribbon, is thermally transferred onto a recording medium, such as paper. The overall control section 1 includes the above-mentioned respective sections 2
．． 3.4.5 Control the whole.

Next, the scanner section 2 and printer section 5 will be explained. A scanner section 2 is provided at the top of the copying machine main body 8, and a printer section 5 is provided at the bottom.

The scanner section 2 includes a document table 11 provided on the top surface of the copying machine main body 8, a document cover 12, and an optical system 1 for scanning the document.
3, and a photoelectric converter 1 having a light-receiving surface on its imaging surface.
It is composed of 4 etc.

The optical system 13 includes an exposure light source 15 that scans the original from one end to the other while irradiating the original, and the reflected light from the original is moved by three reflecting mirrors in accordance with the exposure light source 15. The light that passes through the lens 16 forms an image on the image forming surface, that is, the light receiving surface of the photoelectric converter 14, by two reflecting mirrors, and the GYC signal is sent to the color conversion section 3. .

Next, the printer section 5 will be explained. Reference numeral 21 denotes a platen drum, the periphery of which is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and functions as a platen roller for the thermal head 22. A gripper 23 is provided on the outer periphery and grips the leading end of the paper P as a recording medium to be supplied, rotates by itself, and wraps the paper P around the outer periphery. The total length of the outer periphery is slightly longer due to the length of the maximum paper size. The gripper 23 moves in and out in the radial direction to grip the paper P, but as shown in FIG. 6, the gripper 23 has its tip inside the outer periphery of the platen drum 21 at the gripping position. This is the platen drum 21 during printing.
The thermal head 22 comes into pressure contact with the platen drum 21, but at this time, if the gripper 23 is outside the platen drum 21, the thermal head 22 cannot apply pressure until after the gripper 23 has sufficiently escaped. This is because it will get bigger. By recessing inward, the non-image area can be made considerably smaller than a, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Further, since the gripper 23 extends in the cylindrical direction, it is possible to use this surface to align the paper P, and it is also possible to omit registration rollers, which will be described later. The opening and closing of the gripper 23 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. The gripper 23 is always urged in the direction of gripping by a tension spring 23a, but the opening and closing is performed by the opening/closing lever 24.
This is done by engaging and disengaging. This opening/closing lever 24
is rotatably supported by a pin 25, biased clockwise by a spring 26, and rests against a stopper. The width of the gripper 23 is longer than that of the platen drum 21, and both ends 23b protrude. Then, as the platen drum 21 rotates counterclockwise, both ends 23b come into contact with the engaging portions 28 of the opening/closing lever 24, and as the platen drum 21 rotates, the gripper 23 is pulled out and opened, and the drum 21 stops. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, when the paper P is supplied, the gripper 23 rotates again, disengages, and closes the gripper 23.

Furthermore, on the outer periphery of the platen drum 21, pressure rollers 31, 32.
33 is arranged to prevent the paper from peeling off.

A cassette 40 containing sheets of paper P is attached to the lower right side of the platen drum 21, and a pair of paper feed rollers 41
The sheet P sent out by the gripper 23 reaches the pair of registration rollers 42, is registered, and reaches the gripper 23, where its tip is gripped.

On the other hand, a thermal head 22 as a thermal recording head is provided on the lower left side of the platen drum 21, and a thermal transfer ribbon 45 as a transfer material is inserted between the platen drum 21 and the platen drum 21. Depending on the desired color, the ribbon is wound from one core 46 to the other core 47 so that the ribbon of the desired color is selected. A path 51 is provided. This includes a guide body 52 and a heating roller pair 5.
3, a pair of paper ejection rollers 54, etc., through which the paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 55.

Now, the heating roller pair 53 is a roller pair in which the method of the present invention is implemented, and will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The heating roller pair 53 includes a support roller 58 and a heating roller 5.
9, a control circuit 60 for controlling this heating, and other bearing members.

The support roller 58 is made of a rubber member, and is rotatably supported by a fixedly provided bearing (not shown).

The heating roller 59 is made of a hollow metal member and includes a rough roller body 63 having a roughened outer circumferential surface 62, and a heat generating lamp 64 as a heat source inserted inside the rough roller body 63. The rough surface roller body 63 has a hollow shaft 6 protruding from both ends.
It is rotatably supported by bearings 66.66 via 5.65. These bearings 66, 66 are supported by guide bodies (not shown) so as to be able to move up and down, and biasing springs 68, 68 made of compression springs are inserted between them and plate bodies 67, 67 provided at the top. The rough surface roller body 63 is supported rotatably and movably up and down, and is urged toward the support roller 58.

The heat generating lamp 64 is made of a tubular member with a built-in heater 70, and has an outer lead 7 led out from both ends.
1 and 71 are led out through the hollow shaft 65 and 65, and both ends are fixed to a power supply section (not shown). Therefore, although the rough surface roller body 63 is vertically movable, its range is limited by the outer leads 71 and 71.

Next, the control circuit 60 is configured as shown in FIG. That is, an AC power source 73 is connected to the heater 70 via a 5SR (solid state relay) 72. 5SR72 is set to 0 by the output of comparator 74.
It is designed to be N10FF, and comparator 74
The human power compares the reference voltage obtained by resistor division of R, R2, and R3 with the detection voltage from a thermistor (not shown) that detects the temperature of the heating roller 59, so that the temperature of this heating lamp becomes constant. It is controlled so that The heating roller 59 is controlled to have a temperature that softens the ink on the paper P after transfer, for example.

Next, the operation of the printer section 5 will be briefly described. Paper cassette 4
After the paper P taken out from 0 is aligned by the resist 0-ra pair 42, it is moved to the gripper 23 on the platen drum 21.
The tip Pa is grasped by the holder. Manually fed paper P
The same is true. The platen drum 21 first rotates slightly counterclockwise to close the gripper 23, and then rotates clockwise, so that the paper P is wrapped around it, so that the paper does not shift during overlapping printing. . Further, the paper P is brought into close contact with the pressure rollers 31, 32, and 33 and rotates together with the platen drum 21.

After the gripper 23 passes the printing near area, the thermal head 22 is pressed against the platen drum 21, and printing is performed. - When the color printing is completed, the platen drum 21 has rotated approximately one revolution. Here, the thermal head 22 is released, the thermal transfer ribbon 45 is wound up, and the next color is located. When the platen drum 21 starts rotating clockwise again and passes near the printing area of the thermal head 22, the thermal head 22 is pressurized again and the next color is printed in an overlapping manner.

In this way, in the case of full-color copying, an image is formed by four operations of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, or three operations of yellow, magenta, and cyan. In the case of black, etc., it is naturally performed in one operation.

When discharging paper, as shown in FIG. 11, the trailing edge pb of the paper P is rotated clockwise until it reaches the entrance of the paper discharging guide body 52, and then as shown in FIG. , rotate counterclockwise so that the paper P passes through the paper discharge guide body 52. Then, it passes through a pair of heating rollers 53 where the method of the present invention has been applied, is matted, is sent to a pair of paper discharge rollers 54, and falls onto a paper discharge tray 55.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described along with the function of the heating roller pair 53.

In FIG. 3, the paper P discharged after printing is
The image Pc is inserted into the heating roller pair 53 with the image Pc on the heating side. There, the image Pc is reheated by the heating roller 59 and passes while being pressed by both rollers 58 and 59. At this time, the colorant (ink) melts and soaks into the paper P, and the image PC loses its luster and becomes matte. Further, the rough surface of the rough roller body 63 processes the surface into a rough texture, and a copy with a matte image Pc without gloss and easy to see is obtained.

Note that the structure of the pair of heating rollers is not limited to this embodiment, and heating rollers with smooth surfaces that are not rough may be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, in the image forming method of the present invention, the paper on which the image has been formed is passed through a pair of heating rollers, and the softened and melted image is pressed by reheating, so that the image is sufficiently soaked into the recording medium. , a matte image is reliably obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a thermal transfer copying machine embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main parts (heating roller), and FIG. 4 5 and 6 are enlarged illustrations of the gripper, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the gripper, and 8.
Figures 10 through 10 are illustrations for explaining opening and closing of the gripper, and Figure 11.
This figure and FIG. 12 are also explanatory diagrams of paper discharge. P...Recording medium, 22...Thermal recording head 45...Transfer material, 53...Heating roller pair Fig. 2]

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming step in which the colorant on the transfer material is melt-transferred onto the recording medium using a thermal recording head to form an image, and a heating step in which the recording medium onto which the melt-transfer is heated is heated through a pair of heating rollers to melt and permeate the colorant. An image forming method comprising: